I help to run a local podcast radio station (Forest Radio) and have now purchased a total of five of these units or the almost identical DS-55 for our team to use for field recordings and interviews. I have been greatly impressed with their performance, reliability, battery life and above all sound quality. In the HQ stereo mode they equal the performance of all but the very best portable recorders, and being long discontinued by their manufacturer represent superb value on the secondhand market, The only downside worth mentioning is that they use a fairly unusual format for the recordings, WMA (Windows Media Audia) which you will likely need to convert into some other format for most purposes, but we have good sound editing software and this is not a problem for us. Free download converters and free online conversion is readily available.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This was bought for my father who is hearing impaired and wears hearing aids. I read somewhere that it had been developed with the Institute for the Deaf. The voice recorder works fine. Playback on the machine without earphones is very soft and my father can't use earphones because of his hearing aids. There is no way of fast forwarding a track or recording while you are playing it back so you always have to go back to the beginning. This is the same on the computer. Also I can't find any editing features. If all you want is a simple recorder and playback it does the job. But nothing else
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Hi I recently bought a olympus DS40 voice recorder on ebay while scrolling for a Sony microphone, imagine my joy a recorder and the mike I was after as a package, as I am a singer in a choir all my requirements in one fell swoop! I made a offer and as I was go-ing to pay X for the mike I used that to bump up the offer to Y giving me a cushion for those pests who hover on single bids. Job done I got the recorder for a 1/4 of the retail price. The Olympus DS40 has been great for recording all aspects of practice choral work I have more advanced equipment for Quality Recordings but that cannot fit in my shirt pocket as the DS40 can. It is so light you dont know that you are carrying it. the standard of recording is acceptable but limited in choral work the sopranos can make it sound a bit tinny but it is super for the purpose it was made for. As I am getting on a bit I have found myself recording my memories from the past before those senior moments arrive. This has been fun to do and do i see book before me, possibly though probably not racy enough. As you all know the modern mobile phone has Apps for everything recorders being one so the DS40 is in danger off being old hat not so until phone manufacturers improve battery life to facilitate these energy hungry Apps. So buy the DS40 with confidence battery last for ever, take up no space stores untold amounts of info for you to enjoy over and over. Cheap as chips .Read full review
What a fantastic little recorder - the quality of sound (when downloaded) is impeccable, picking up sound from not only the direction of the mikes but also to the sides of them. Great when recording a group conversation. The relatively small memory has certainly not been an issue & I doubt whether it would be for most people. Highly recommended
Used this type at last job an just wanted to have one for myself, this one works great saved me money thx
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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